Daylight Saving Time Ends November 3: Prepare to "Fall Back"

Residents in the Cove will soon gain an extra hour of sleep as Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3. Clocks should be set back one hour, shifting from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m.

As autumn advances, the shift marks the return to Standard Time, giving early risers a bit more daylight in the morning hours.

When looking for a reason for why we observe the time change, we can look to Robert Garland, an industrialist and former Republican Pittsburgh City Council member who is also known as “the father of daylight saving time.”

“It’s not a new idea; Benjamin Franklin was the first one to come up with it but Garland is the one who really pushed for it to happen,” said Anne Madarasz, director of the curatorial division, chief historian, and director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.

Garland came from Northern Ireland, born in 1862, and came to Pittsburgh at the age of 15.

He was a city council member from 1919 to 1939, with an interest in municipal issues, including time-related ones.

“He spent two decades on the city council,” said Madarasz. “He was considered an honest, hardworking self-made man. He was very involved in many areas of the city and was considered a man of honor.”

Garland is remembered for creating the country’s first plan for DST in 1917, and worked with President Woodrow Wilson to have it passed into law in the United States during World War I.

“He is the leader of an organization that pushed for what they called war time,” said Madarasz. “The United Kingdom was the first to use it to conserve energy, and resources. Garland studies this and sees it as something useful. “

Wilson passed DST into law in 1917. The law was repealed only a few months after taking effect because of opposition from farmers and the agricultural industry.

Some cities, such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and New York City, saw the benefits of DST during the summer months, and continued to use it after the law was repealed.

Then during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed DST into law again to help with increasing productivity and conserving important supplies.

Garland received a copy of the pen from both Wilson and Roosevelt.

After the war, Roosevelt’s law ended, which allowed each state and even some counties and cities, to go back to any time standard they chose to follow.

This trend continued until Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, instituting a consistent daylight saving time plan nationwide.

Extended DST also made an appearance in 1974 during the energy crisis brought on by an Arab oil embargo, along with odd-even gasoline rationing, nationwide 55 mph speed limits and other emergency measures. DST was imposed by President Richard Nixon beginning on Jan. 6 of that year, with the intention of continuing it all year. The measure was not popular, especially in the winter and early spring months, and DST was lifted on Oct. 27.

President Ronald Reagan lengthened DST from six to seven months in 1986, and President George W. Bush extended it again in 2005 to eight months.

“Garland died before daylight saving time became permanent in the country, but he is still remembered for his legacy that remains here,” said Madarasz.

Hawaii, Arizona, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands do not observe DST.

Area residents are encouraged to use this weekend as a reminder to check smoke detectors, replace batteries, and prepare their homes for the colder months.